It’s fairly safe to say that as we turn the page to another year of sports, 2024 gave us both many things to enjoy and some head scratchers.
Let’s start with the elephant in the room known as your lovable and inconsistent Indianapolis Colts.
Many of you had high hopes for the Horseshoe this season but once again you received some rather disappointing results from an organization that’s clearly stuck in neutral and in need of an overhaul.
From the general manager to the coaching staff and the current roster, this was simply another year of optimism going by the wayside in a rather quick fashion, spawned by lethargic play on the field and to be kind, questionable decisions made by people being paid small fortunes to do just the fricking opposite.
This group can’t be run back again, and Jim Irsay clearly needs to jettison some individuals in all areas of the team in hopes of finding the playoffs soon. Long suffering season ticket holders deserve it and should expect significant change in 2025.
The Indiana Pacers took advantage of the Eastern Conference Playoffs largely due to the multiple injuries plaguing their opponents to advance into what was really a combined exercise in frustration and disappointment for the fans.
While your favorite team in blue and gold demonstrated the ability to light up the scoreboard, their inability to rebound and defend made the return to reality difficult to watch against a healthy Boston Celtic team, and that trend has continued the first thirty games of this current season in which yours truly predicted a mark of 41-41 when it’s all said and done this year.
With the NBA trade deadline rapidly approaching, will they make a splash or stay ashore with their current vessel that contains leaks?
In my opinion, no player on this roster is off the table in terms of trades, but they probably won’t be bold and make any significant moves involving their young core.
The only positive aspect of the Indianapolis team sports landscape was the meteoric rise of the Indiana Fever due in large to the tsunami that is one Caitlin Clark who sold tickets by the bundle along with merch bearing her likeness, beer, hotdogs and hope for the future.
Clark energized the fan base in a way that was nothing short of incredible and buoyed the WNBA into a white-hot spotlight that will only continue to get warmer as long as she’s on the playing floor at Gainbridge.
She’s as real as my late mother’s iced tea, and it’s her parade to lead. With some recent front office moves and a coaching change to boot, it’s fair to say the Fever should continue to be the focal point locally and be a legit contender for a WNBA championship in 2025.
My beloved IndyCar had a lot of ups and downs this past season but was not short on competitive racing, especially on the oval venues away from the Cathedral of Motorsports, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Defending NTT IndyCar Series Champion Alex Palou will still be the man to beat when they line up in St Petersburg in early March to kick off the new season.
Fully armed with a new network television contract with Fox Sports, the series has a lot of questions to answer this year, and not just who will figure out a way to break the Josef Newgarden and Team Penske stranglehold at IMS in May.
Can all the aforementioned teams/series meet the expectations of the fans? Probably not, but 2025 does have the potential for positive change and accordingly, even better performance from all the parties.
Now, if l can simply find a pair of comfortable shoes and my laptop.
Danny Bridges, who will undoubtedly ingest way too much sports media in the coming months, wishes you all a Happy New Year and can be reached at 317-370-8447 or at bridgeshd@aol.com.
